Up to last Saturday, Synergy Holdings Inc. had been paid US$3.8 million for the work done so far on the Amaila Falls access road project, and the company is in the process of finalising arrangements with local subcontractors to complete some aspects of the work, senior government engineer Walter Willis has disclosed.
Willis, who is the government’s technical advisor on the project, told this newspaper that Synergy Holdings Inc. has so far completed about 25 percent of the US$15.4 million project. The payments, Willis said, were made following the measurement of the completed works by the supervising team.
Synergy Holdings is badly behind on the project and last month the technical advisors had recommended to the company’s president Fip Motilall that he subcontracts aspects of the work and to increase the labour force on the site. At the end of March, with about 60 percent of the project time having elapsed, the project was only about 22 percent complete.
The contract awarded to Synergy was for “the upgrading of approximately 85 km of existing roadway, the design and construction of approximately 110 km of virgin roadway, the design and construction of two new pontoon crossings at the Essequibo and Kuribrong rivers.”
The fourth part of the project is for the clearing of a pathway alongside the roadways to allow for the installation of approximately 65 km of transmission lines.
Speaking to this newspaper on Wednesday, Willis said that that Motilall “is in the process of concluding agreements with local subcontractors.” He said that Motilall has been encouraged to complete this process as quickly as possible. Willis explained that the project management team would not have much of a say as to which company Motilall subcontracts to. Motilall, Willis said, would simply have to inform the project management team who he would like to hire as a subcontractor and for what aspects of the projects. The project management would then give the go ahead. It would be Motilall’s responsibility, as the overall contractor, to ensure that the hired subcontractors complete the work properly and on time, Willis said.
Explaining why the project management would not recommend a subcontractor to Motilall, Willis said that the team wants to avoid the case where there is a “nominated subcontractor.” He said that if the team is to recommend a contractor, and this contractor fails to deliver, “it would be hard to claim liquidated damages.”
Motilall, Stabroek News, understands intends to subcontract specific projects. These include pile driving, transportation contractors (to carry laterite) and contractors to build timber bridges. Motilall is also seeking to subcontract a local company to supply pontoons for the Butakari Crossing, Willis told this newspaper.
Regarding additional labour on the worksite, Willis said that Synergy Holdings Inc. has taken on three Indonesian operators who were previously employed with logging company Barama. “These are good operators,” Willis opined, adding that they have made already have made a positive impact on the project.
In recent weeks, there has been improvement in the pace of construction Willis said, adding that four-wheel access to the site has been achieved. He said though that the contractors still had a lot more work to do.
Willis noted that within recent weeks there has been improvement in the pace of construction, but said this still was not good enough.
He also told this newspaper that the four-wheel access to the site has been achieved. Motilall, while speaking to reporters in March, had said that he was aiming for four-wheel access to the site by August.
He had also promised to take reporters to the worksite within three weeks of this interview, but to date this promise has not been fulfilled.
Completion of the access road project in a timely manner is seen as key to ensuring financial closure for the funding of the Amaila Falls hydropower plant.
Construction of the plant is scheduled to start later this year, the project developer Sithe Global LLC has said.
